Three Lonely Outcasts :: Free Essay Writer

Three Lonely Outcasts In Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck almost all of the characters are ranch hands and they are solitary wanderers. They live very lonely, solitary lives, drifting from one ranch to another. They don?t make many friends and they don?t make much money. There are three characters on the ranch who are the lonliest of the lonely because they are also outcasts or misfits who don?t fit in with what is considered ?normal? by the other ranch hands. Lennie is an outcast because he is retarded, Crooks is an outcast because he is black, and Curley?s wife is an outcast because she is a woman. These three outcasts look for companionship throughout the novel. First, Lennie is a lonely outcast because he is retarded. One of the reasons he doesn?t fit in with the other ranch hands is because he doesn?t always understand what people are talking about. He doesn?t even always understand George. Lennie admits this when Crooks says to him, ?Sometimes he talks and and you don?t know what the hell he?s talkin? about.? (Steinbeck,77). But Lennie always needs companionship. He is never alone, even if he has a dead mouse or a puppy with him. George would sometimes punish Lenny by not letting him tend to the rabbits on the ranch. And Lennie?s biggest fear is of being abandoned by George: He won?t do it,? Lennie cried. ?George wouldn?t do nothing like that. I been with George a long time. He?ll come back tonight But the doubt was too much for him.? (Steinbeck,78). The second lonely outcast is Curley?s wife. The other ranch hands stay away from her because she is a woman and because she is the wife of the boss? son. Also, even though her husband is very jealous, she is so lonely that she tries to get attention from the ranch hands, which makes Curley even angrier and more jealous. She is like the outcast of the outcasts. One night, when everyone else is away from the ranch, Lennie and Candy are in Crooks? room. Even though it is just the three ?. . . weak ones here? (Steinbeck,84), when Curley?s wife is lonely and wants to join them, they won?t let her: ?Maybe you better go along to your own house now.

Bandura’s Experiments

In the early 1960s Bandura and other researchers conducted a classic set of experiments that demonstrated the power of observational learning. In one experiment, a preschool child worked on a drawing while a television set showed an adult behaving aggressively toward a large inflated Bobo doll (a clown doll that bounces back up when knocked down). The adult pummeled the doll with a mallet, kicked it, flung it in the air, sat on it, and beat it in the face, while yelling such remarks as â€Å"Sock him in the nose †¦ Kick him †¦ Pow! † The child was then left in another room filled with interesting toys, including a Bobo doll.The experimenters observed the child through one-way glass. Compared with children who witnessed a nonviolent adult model and those not exposed to any model, children who witnessed the aggressive display were much more likely to show aggressive behaviors toward the Bobo doll, and they often imitated the model's exact behaviors and hostile words. I n a variant of the original experiment, Bandura and colleagues examined the effect of observed consequences on learning. They showed four-year-old children one of three films of an adult acting violently toward a Bobo doll.In one version of the film, the adult was praised for his or her aggressive behavior and given soda and candies. In another version, the adult was scolded, spanked, and warned not to behave that way again. In a third version, the adult was neither rewarded nor punished. After viewing the film, each child was left alone in a room that contained a Bobo doll and other toys. Many children imitated the adult’s violent behaviors, but children who saw the adult punished imitated the behaviors less often than children who saw the other films.However, when the researchers promised the children a reward if they could copy the adult’s behavior, all three groups of children showed large and equal amounts of violent behavior toward the Bobo doll. Bandura conclude d that even those children who did not see the adult model receive a reward had learned through observation, but these children (especially those who saw the model being punished) would not display what they had learned until they expected a reward for doing so.The term latent learning describes cases in which an individual learns a new behavior but does not perform this behavior until there is the possibility of obtaining a reward. B Bandura’s Theory of Imitation According to Bandura’s influential theory of imitation, also called social learning theory, four factors are necessary for a person to learn through observation and then imitate a behavior: attention, retention, reproduction, and motivation. First, the learner must pay attention to the crucial details of the model’s behavior.A young girl watching her father bake a cake will not be able to imitate this behavior successfully unless she pays attention to many important details—ingredients, quantiti es, oven temperature, baking time, and so on. The second factor is retention—the learner must be able to retain all of this information in memory until it is time to use it. If the person forgets important details, he or she will not be able to successfully imitate the behavior. Third, the learner must have the physical skills and coordination needed for reproduction of the behavior.The young girl must have enough strength and dexterity to mix the ingredients, pour the batter, and so on, in order to bake a cake on her own. Finally, the learner must have the motivation to imitate the model. That is, learners are more likely to imitate a behavior if they expect it to lead to some type of reward or reinforcement. If learners expect that imitating the behavior will not lead to reward or might lead to punishment, they are less likely to imitate the behavior.C Theory of Generalized Imitation An alternative to Bandura’s theory is the theory of generalized imitation. This theo ry states that people will imitate the behaviors of others if the situation is similar to cases in which their imitation was reinforced in the past. For example, when a young child imitates the behavior of a parent or an older sibling, this imitation is often reinforced with smiles, praise, or other forms of approval.Similarly, when children imitate the behaviors of friends, sports stars, or celebrities, this imitation may be reinforced—by the approval of their peers, if not their parents. Through the process of generalization, the child will start to imitate these models in other situations. Whereas Bandura’s theory emphasizes the imitator’s thought processes and motivation, the theory of generalized imitation relies on two basic principles of operant conditioning—reinforcement and generalization. D Factors Affecting Imitation Many factors determine whether or not a person will imitate a model.As already shown, children are more likely to imitate a model when the model’s behavior has been reinforced than when it has been punished. More important, however, are the expected consequences to the learner. A person will imitate a punished behavior if he or she thinks that imitation will produce some type of reinforcement. The characteristics of the model also influence the likelihood of imitation. Studies have shown that children are more likely to imitate adults who are pleasant and attentive to them than those who are not.In addition, children more often imitate adults who have substantial influence over their lives, such as parents and teachers, and those who seem admired and successful, such as celebrities and athletes. Both children and adults are more likely to imitate models who are similar to them in sex, age, and background. For this reason, when behavior therapists use modeling to teach new behaviors or skills, they try to use models who are similar to the learners. Microsoft ® Encarta ® Reference Library 2003.  © 1993-2002 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Chinese Manufacturer Opens Assembly Plant in Europe

When I was looking for car manufacturers that have opened up assembly plants in Eastern Europe, I stumbled upon some very interesting articles with information I haven’t heard about before. The article of Spiegel, which is a highly reputable German newspaper, is about the Chinese car manufacturer ‘’Great Wall Motors’’ which has opened an assembly plant in Bahovitsa, Bulgaria recently in 2012. When I read this, I immediately realized that this process normally is the other way around, European car manufacturers who move their assembly plants to China due to lower labor costs.But in this article it depicts upon the opening of an assembly plant in Europe by a Chinese car manufacturer. As I kept reading the article I more or less understood why the Chinese manufacturer is making this move. Great Wall Motors is not the first Chinese car manufacturing company that wanted to open up assembly plants in Europe. There were several others; however they have fai led to meet stringent European safety standards.Other Chinese carmakers are also expanding into Europe, as they are buying assembly plants of European car manufacturers to improve the quality of their cars and therefore to meet the stringent European safety standards. This is a way for those Chinese car manufacturers to make progress in quality. So first of all, why in Europe? By producing in Europe, the cars that are produced no longer have to be exported from China to Europe and thus Great Wall Motors is circumventing EU import taxes and tariffs.Therefore, the cars that are produced in Europe are meant to be sold in the European market. This saves Great Wall Motors a lot of money. But then a second question arises; where in Europe? Great Wall Motors did not choose Bulgaria as location for their assembly plants because of its geographical location, but rather for their cheap labor. Bulgaria is the poorest country in the European Union, and therefore is the most attractive location to open an assembly plant because it also has the lowest wages and taxes.However, the labor force is considered as well educated and therefore ensures high productivity levels and operational performance. Another factor that made Great Wall Motors to relocate to Europe, is the fact that wages in China for factory workers have been rising the last few years, and that other car manufacturers have been relocating their assembly plants to countries in Eastern Europe to gain a more competitive edge in the European market. At first, they plan to sell its cars in Eastern Europe and expand later on into other EU countries.Another factor they do not mention in the Article but in my opinion is also highly relevant for this topic is the EU economic crisis. Due to the economic crisis, many people have lost their jobs and therefore have less money to spend. This can be seen as another reason why Great Wall Motors went to Europe because this is a way they can market their cheaper cars to the Euro pean consumers who are very price sensitive due to the economic crisis. This is an opportunity for foreign car manufacturers in general.To conclude, the tables have turned as it used to be European car manufacturers opening up assembly plants in China, and now it is the Chinese car manufacturers opening up assembly plants in Europe. This article resembles the reasons why this change has occurred and why Great Wall Motors has moved their production to the European continent. Article http://www. spiegel. de/international/business/cheap-labor-in-bulgaria-chinese-open-first-car-plant-in-europe-a-816851. html

“Bartleby the Scrivener” by Herman Melville

This short story entitled â€Å"Bartleby the Scrivener† by Herman Melville gave as an idea about the several interesting characters with many poles apart personalities. But the one that was caught our attention was Bartleby. This man was a scrivener, which, in simple words, was a human description of a modern day copy machine. He did his job exceptionally well; he never stopped working, and got things done rapidly and proficiently. But, Bartleby was a man of one phrase: â€Å"I would not prefer to†. He said this as a reply to everything that was requested of him other than to copy documents.Well in fact, he absolutely refused what his boss asked him to do. This confused the reader about Bartleby. But, Melville, never seemed to present an answer to this mystery. Another thing that caught my attention was that he never said â€Å"I will not. †, but â€Å"I prefer not. † This implied us that the individual he was talking to has a choice as to what Bartleby wo uld or wouldn’t do, but in such a way, it was explained that he puzzled the narrator’s feelings, and for a long period of time, it caused him to accept the statement as a â€Å"no†.I concluded this as one of the weaknesses of the narrator as a business owner, but at the same time made me thought what was Bartleby’s reason for responding in such a way. I also found out very interesting about him was his living habits. He decided to stay at the office which he didn’t even bother to ask the permission of his boss (the narrator). He washed, slept, and worked in that place also. He refused (or stated that he would â€Å"prefer not†) to adjust his living arrangements.The narrator transferred his business because Bartleby didn’t want to vacate the place after the new occupant arrived. The narrator understood him but in the end Bartleby was put into prison because of him also. To cut the story short, Bartleby died at the prison. The narrator had an investigation and discovered that his last job caused him some mental affliction and psychological disturbance. In my own point of view, I think if the narrator learned about the real situation of Bartleby as early as possible, he would treat him with compassion and understanding.The reason of Bartleby by telling â€Å"I prefer not to,† â€Å"I prefer not to,† was to isolate his self among the rest and his lack of interest for involvement. The narrator explained in the passage below how he treated Bartleby, â€Å"I placed his desk close up to a small side window in that part of the room, a window which originally had afforded a lateral view of certain grimy backyards, and bricks, but which, owning to in subsequent erections, commanded at present, no view at all, though it gave some light.Within three feet of the panes was a wall, and the light came down from far above between two lofty buildings, as from a very small opening in a dome. Still further to satisfac tory arrangement, I procured a green folding screen, which might entirely isolate Bartleby from my sight, though, not remove him from my voice. † The narrator, himself, had separated and secluded Bartleby from the real world. In my opinion, what the narrator did wasn’t able to help Bartleby overcome his trauma from his last work.It only added to the emotional problems that he hid from the start. He used to tell the word â€Å"I prefer not to† because he thought that he couldn’t do anything aside from his work and he didn’t even bother to mingle with other people because he considered himself unacceptable to whatever or whoever. For me, Bartleby didn’t want to isolate himself from other, in such a way that they couldn’t understand him, but the truth was the people that surrounded him, did the isolation.Because of that, he developed negative impressions toward himself and others. As I analyzed this short story, I came up with the judgmen t that isolation was risky. It can drive an individual to insanity, make him speechless, or even kill his own self. The lesson was not to allow your own self to be overcomed by prejudices and discrimination, and let yourself be isolated. â€Å"Bartleby the Scrivener† by Herman Melville This short story entitled â€Å"Bartleby the Scrivener† by Herman Melville gave as an idea about the several interesting characters with many poles apart personalities. But the one that was caught our attention was Bartleby. This man was a scrivener, which, in simple words, was a human description of a modern day copy machine. He did his job exceptionally well; he never stopped working, and got things done rapidly and proficiently. But, Bartleby was a man of one phrase: â€Å"I would not prefer to†. He said this as a reply to everything that was requested of him other than to copy documents.Well in fact, he absolutely refused what his boss asked him to do. This confused the reader about Bartleby. But, Melville, never seemed to present an answer to this mystery. Another thing that caught my attention was that he never said â€Å"I will not. †, but â€Å"I prefer not. † This implied us that the individual he was talking to has a choice as to what Bartleby wo uld or wouldn’t do, but in such a way, it was explained that he puzzled the narrator’s feelings, and for a long period of time, it caused him to accept the statement as a â€Å"no†.I concluded this as one of the weaknesses of the narrator as a business owner, but at the same time made me thought what was Bartleby’s reason for responding in such a way. I also found out very interesting about him was his living habits. He decided to stay at the office which he didn’t even bother to ask the permission of his boss (the narrator). He washed, slept, and worked in that place also. He refused (or stated that he would â€Å"prefer not†) to adjust his living arrangements.The narrator transferred his business because Bartleby didn’t want to vacate the place after the new occupant arrived. The narrator understood him but in the end Bartleby was put into prison because of him also. To cut the story short, Bartleby died at the prison. The narrator had an investigation and discovered that his last job caused him some mental affliction and psychological disturbance. In my own point of view, I think if the narrator learned about the real situation of Bartleby as early as possible, he would treat him with compassion and understanding.The reason of Bartleby by telling â€Å"I prefer not to,† â€Å"I prefer not to,† was to isolate his self among the rest and his lack of interest for involvement. The narrator explained in the passage below how he treated Bartleby, â€Å"I placed his desk close up to a small side window in that part of the room, a window which originally had afforded a lateral view of certain grimy backyards, and bricks, but which, owning to in subsequent erections, commanded at present, no view at all, though it gave some light.Within three feet of the panes was a wall, and the light came down from far above between two lofty buildings, as from a very small opening in a dome. Still further to satisfac tory arrangement, I procured a green folding screen, which might entirely isolate Bartleby from my sight, though, not remove him from my voice. † The narrator, himself, had separated and secluded Bartleby from the real world. In my opinion, what the narrator did wasn’t able to help Bartleby overcome his trauma from his last work.It only added to the emotional problems that he hid from the start. He used to tell the word â€Å"I prefer not to† because he thought that he couldn’t do anything aside from his work and he didn’t even bother to mingle with other people because he considered himself unacceptable to whatever or whoever. For me, Bartleby didn’t want to isolate himself from other, in such a way that they couldn’t understand him, but the truth was the people that surrounded him, did the isolation.Because of that, he developed negative impressions toward himself and others. As I analyzed this short story, I came up with the judgmen t that isolation was risky. It can drive an individual to insanity, make him speechless, or even kill his own self. The lesson was not to allow your own self to be overcomed by prejudices and discrimination, and let yourself be isolated.

My Theory of Literacy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

My Theory of Literacy - Essay Example Computer skills are needed in education as well as in the job. What good an individual that can just read and write do in the contemporary organization in which manual work has been replaced with mechanical work? In the past, individuals with an ability to write and read were considered literate because these two skills sufficed to be employed in any organization, but contemporary organizations are way more demanding. The contemporary definition of literacy is incomplete unless the significance of computer skills is acknowledged and set as one of the criteria for judgment of an individual literacy. Charles Bazerman defined literacy in these words, â€Å"Literacy does not require or inexorably lead to any particular development, but it is a powerful tool available for organizing, extending, providing resources for, and transforming all of our social endeavors† (Bazerman cited in Goggin). Writing is conventionally associated with creativity. Every piece of writing has to be orig inal or it would be considered as plagiarized. Thus, writing is essentially a creation and the writer is an inventor, but Bazerman does not consider such a person necessarily literate. His definition of literacy requires a literate person to be able to organize, promote, support and transform his/her social efforts using his/her literary skills. All of these functions are achieved with a computer these days. Computer helps organize the data. Programs like Microsoft Excel help not only organize the data, but also perform different kinds of functions upon it. Programs like Corel Draw transform imagination into reality. An in-depth analysis of the computer skills suggests that use of computer does a lot to improve a person’s social and critical analysis skills. â€Å"Many contemporary perspectives on literacy view scripted text as one component of complex acts and practices of written communication that occur in social contexts† (Goggin). Modern age is characterized by so cial media. Today, writing has evolved so much that it encapsulates a lot of linguistic styles that were unknown to the writers of the past. Old literature is characterized by formality. Modern literature is informal to the maximum limits. In the past, there used to be abbreviations for long words. Nowadays, there are abbreviations for phrases. For example, â€Å"also known as† is written as â€Å"aka†, â€Å"laughing out loud† is written as â€Å"lol†. These are only two of the hundreds of abbreviations that chatting on social media websites has given birth to. Today, an individual who is able to write but does not understand or use these abbreviations in the scripts is as illiterate as anyone in the past who could not write. These abbreviations and such other modifications of literature are a result of the time-based modification in the assumptions and values of people. Robert Scholes had realized the importance of modern and emerging linguistic pattern s in the writing back in 1985. He expressed his realization in these words: What students need from us . . . now is the kind of knowledge and skill that will enable them to make sense of their worlds, to determine their own interests, both individual and collective, to see through the manipulations of all sorts of texts in all sorts of media, and to express their own views in some appropriate manner. (Scholes cited in Schwartz). Of the two texts, Schwartz has presented a more rational analysis of the concept of literacy by emphasizing upon the need to

Doves Campaign for Real Beauty Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Doves Campaign for Real Beauty - Essay Example In doing so, women are unaware that what this conformity to such a cruel standard is crushing their ego, shifting their focus on more important matters such as relationships, spiritual well-being and others to the more trivial things such as physical appearance. Dove is aware of the negative effects of today's concept of beauty to women of all ages. As a company with such an esteemed reputation as a global brand and a conscientious seller of beauty products, Dove wanted to look into these issues that women are dealing with. Together with a team of experts in their respective fields, Dove developed "The Real Truth About Beauty: A Global Report". This aimed to look deeper into the connection between women and their idea of being beautiful. Furthermore, this study intended to find out how women feel about themselves. This includes how women define their own concept of beauty, their degree of contentment in relation to their appearance and the impact of their views on their sense of happiness. (Campaign for Real Beauty). In every era, the concept of beauty changes; likewise, for every culture, there are also different standards to define beauty. Women, depending on their age, racial background have their own concepts and standards of attractiveness. Fashion spreads and television ads more often than not feature reed-thin models with flawless skin and picture-perfect features. This concept of beauty has led to most of the young women, most even in their teens to worry that they are not tall, blonde, pretty, or thin enough to measure up to this hyped up idea of loveliness. A majority of women nowadays feel that they don't hit the mark as far as physical beauty is concerned. Many young women and girls have developed issues with their body, certain facial features, skin tone, and this has paved the way for them to seek acceptance through other avenues. As a consequence, many have been lost to eating disorders, abusive relationships, substance abuse and other physical and psychological disorders. This is too hefty a price to pay for a girl who just wants nothing more than the world to accept her just the way she is. Review of Literature Dove believes that "every girl deserves to feel beautiful just the way she is". With Dove's supremacy in the business of beauty, it is a big deal that Dove has come with the "Campaign for Real Beauty" advertising campaign series. This is a revolutionary take on traditional advertising efforts as it borders towards social responsibility. Speaking of social responsibility, Dove is aware of the consequences of the impact that a company's advertising campaign may have on the people that it will reach. Dove is also conscious that with the way the world of advertising portrays beauty nowadays, peoples' views of beauty have become misrepresented to such a great extent. The launch of "Campaign for Real Beauty" is Dove's way of serving the public by attempting to correct

Healthcare reform Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Healthcare reform - Essay Example ry in the world, with $7,290 spent per person on health care cost (Centre for Medicare and Medicaid Services, 2009), yet suffers from massive un-insurance, uneven quality of care and administrative waste. The public health insurance sector is much smaller compared to the private health insurance sector and comprises of Medicare for the elderly, Medicaid for the low-income groups and disabled, State Children’s Health Insurance Program for children of families who do not qualify for Medicaid and lack private insurance and Veteran’s Administration for military veterans. The private health insurance sector comprises of employer sponsored insurance and private non-group insurance. 1. Extend coverage through insurance mandate: This would be implemented by providing subsidies in insurance premiums and tax credits up to 35% of premiums for small businesses that employ less than 50 people to provide health care benefits. Those people who are not covered under Medicare or employer sponsored insurance will receive assistance through direct subsidies to purchase insurance through a new on-line exchange, an internet state run market place. for insurers to exclude lifetime and annual caps and cover more of a person’s health care cost. It also requires all new health insurance plans to provide coverage for preventive services with no out of pocket cost and prevents exclusions made for necessary care. The major outcome of these reforms for clients/patients of the health care system is that it will ensure that maximum number of people have health insurance. It will also encourage health care clients to focus on prevention, health promotion and wellness rather than cure of diseases. Also, more healthcare services would be covered. It is projected that this reform will help in reduce the number of uninsured in the country from 19% in 2010 to 8% by 2016 (International Insurance News, 2010). In light of the new health care reform, baccalaureate-prepared nurses will spend a